Operating mechanism



April 20 1926. C. M. YODER OPERATING MEGHANISM Filed June e, 1922 Patented Apr. 20,1926.A

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

CARL ivi. Yonne, or CLEVELAND, oHIo, AssIGNoR, BY MEsNE` AssIGNMENTs, To BAsTIAN-MORLEY oo., or LA PORTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION or IJlIDIANA.y

OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed June 6,

To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL M. Yonne, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Operating Mechanisms, of a specification.

This `invention relates to an operating mechanism, particularly adapted for use in connection with a thermostat, whereby a device, such as a valve may be etliciently controlled. The invention may be advantageously applied forthe purpose of controlling the supply of fuel to a heating device or al heating medium either of which may be utilized to maintainV a` fluid in a confined space, such as a tank, at a substantially uniform temperature.

One object of the invention islto provide an improved operating mechanism having an actuating vmember which operates substantially in an `endwise direction axially of the valve opening to unseat a valve element and permit the seating thereof, whereby the valve element may be readily actuated to properly control the flow of the fuel o r heating medium.

Anotherobject of the invention Vis to provide an improved valve operating mechanisin,.having a coiled spring interposed between the plunger or thrust member of the mechanism and the valve element, arranged to be compressed in the movement of the plunger or thrust member to actuate the valve element, whereby the latter Will be unseatedwith a relatively quick movement;

whichv the following is Other objects of the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates from the following de scription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a thermostat valve control mechanism embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the valve element in an operated position.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the main operating levers.

Fig. 4 isa perspective view of the other main operating lever.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the supplemental lever.

Fig.'6 is a perspective view of the link 1922. 'serieu No. 566,345.

which is connected to one of the main operating levers and the supplemental` lever.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view ofthe Y plunger and spring carried thereby. y Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation-of the parts shown in Fig. 1, but showing movement of the thrust member upwardly and tion of my invention. Inview of the disclosures in such patent, it will not be necessary to herein disclose and describe the apparatus in such application.

In the drawings 6 indicates a fuel supply pipe, preferably for gaseous fuel, leading to a burner (not shown), such pipe being 1 arranged adjacent to a tank 1 containing water that is to be heated so that the operating mechanism embodying my invention andthe thermostat elements, indicated ras an entirety at 13, 14, can be operatively connected withthe thermostat elements disposed within the tank 1, as shown. The valve mechanism 7 is interposed in the pipe 6 so as to controlk theflow of gastherethrough to the burner.. Of this mechanism, 8 indicates a casing shaped and constructed in any wellknown manner to form a chamber 8a and pipe sections 8", 8, to which the ends of the pipe 6 (see Figs. 1 and) are connected. 9 indicates an annular rim or flange rextending inwardly fromthe internal Wall of the pipe section 8b to form a valve opening 9a. The outer circumferential edge of the flange 9 is ground or otherwise finished to form a seat 9b for a valve element `10. Preferably the seat 9b is ground to a relatively fine edge. The chamber 8a is closedon one side by a cap 8?. The cap is preferably provided with screw threads for engagement with screw threads'on the inner wall of the casing 8. The valve element 19 preferably comprises a ball of solid material normally resting on vthe seat and maintained thereon by its weight and the pressure of the gas within of gas around the valve element. At one side, the casing 8 is provided with a plug 'or head 12 preferably formed integrally with the walls of the casing. At its outer end the plug 12 is provided with screw threads to fit a screw threaded opening in the side wall of the tank 1. The screw threaded portion of the plug 12 may be reducedto form a shoulder 12 which bears against the wall of the tank 1 to providea liquid tight joint when the plug 12 is connected with the tank 1 in the manner shown.

12'? t indicates an opening extending through the plug -12 and adapted to receive the inner ends of thethermostat elements 13, 14. The element 13 preferably comprises a section oftubing formed from copper or other material capable .of readilyfexpanding under the influence of heat. The inner end of the tube 13 fits tightly within the opening 12b, preferablyy extending to t-he inner end thereof. The tube13 `maybe soldered or otherwise secured in the opening 12F. The element 14 is preferably formed from some material, such yas porcelain which ris not to anyv substantial extent affected by temperature changes. At their outer ends, the elements 13, 14, are connected together as shown at 15 in any suitable manner so that the expansion and contraction of the tube 13 will move the element 14 endwise in one direction or the other accordingly as the teinperature of the water surrounding the tube 13 rises or'falls. The connection 15 preferably comprises a plug 15a, which closes the outer end of the tube 13. The plug 15a has a screw threaded opening through it, and a rod 15", which is fixed to the element 14, extends through the opening. The rod 15b is provided withscrew threads to fitthe screw threads of the openingin the plug 15a and its outer end is formed with a suitable slot to receive a tool by which the element 14 can be turned, such operation serving to adjust the element 14 longitudinally of the element 13. The outer end of the tube 13,

may be secured to the plug 15a in any desired manner. Since the inner end of the element 13 is fixed to the casing 8 and its outer end is connected to the outer endof `the element V14, it will bennderstood that when the temperature of the medium surrounding the element 13 rises,`the latter expands and Vmoves the element 14 endwise toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 1; on the other hand when the temperature of the medium falls, the element 13 contracts and moves the element 14 endwise in the opposite direction.v The connection 15 is preferably of an air or gas and water tightcharacter.

.of which are `supported in theopposite side walls of the casing 8. The lever 16a is preferably bell-shaped, having arms 16a', 16M.

The arm 16a of the lever 16a preferably comprises "a body portion 16X having an opening 16X through it and a pair of spaced members 16c arranged to support at their free ends a pin or shaft 17, the purpose of which vwill be later described. 18 indicates a second lever pivoted to thefree end fof the arm 16ax of the lever 16'Ll by a pivot pin 18a. The lever 18is preferably bell-shaped, having arms 18, 18a', the latter comprising twospaced members which support at their freev ends a rshaft or pivot 19, to be later referred to. At 19?, the lever 18 is cut away to receive the arm 16ax of the lever 16, to which the lever 18 is f ulcrumed by the shaft or pin 18.; `The levers 16L and 18 are sol arranged relative tothe axis of the opening 12? that the inner end of the thermostat element14 will engage the lever..16 at a'poi-nt betweenfits 'pivot 16b and the pivot 18 between the lever 16'"L and lever 18. Zhen the thermostat element moves toward the left, as viewed-,in Fig. 2, it will tend to swing both levers 16a, 1S," about the pivot 16", but dueto the provision of an abutment 20 in the path of movement of the lever arm 181X,'the movement of the thermostat element 114 will result in swinging the kfree ends of the lever arms.16, 18a', away from each other. On account of' the length ofthe lever arms 16a', 18", as compared with the length of the arms 1 6, 18", respectively, a short movement of the latter arms will cause 4considerable movement of the armsla, 18a.V As lthese arms move away from each other simultaneously, the rate of movement of their free ends relative to each Y other is materially increased.

- 21 indicates a supplen'ientallever mount- 'ed onthe shaft-or pin19 between the free ends of the spaced members constituting the arm 18a', said lever 21` extending inwardly or towardv the pivot 16b so that its free end may move within or between said spaced members. 22 indicates a link pivotally connec'ted at' one end to the lever arm 16a by means of the shaft 17 andatits oppositeend pivotally connected by means of' a pin or shaft 22 tothelever 21, so that when the arms 161, 18a move away from each other, the link 22 will serve to swing the lever" 21 about the pivot pin 19. As shown, the pin 22 is arranged relatively close tothe pivot pin 19 so that rslight movement of the arms 16a', 18a relative to eachother'uf'ill swing the free end of the lever 21 through a relative long arc. 'f

22'@Lv indicates a plunger or thrustv member `wardly and downwardly therewith.

Vpivotally connected at its lower end to the lever 2l so as to be actuated thereby and eX- tending upwardly whereby it may 'lift or unseat the valve element '10, when the lever 21 is oper-ated in the manner to be later described.V The free end of the lever 21 is preferably bifurcated, as shown in Fig. 5 and the lower zend of the plunger 22;L is reduced (see Fig. 7 to fit between these bifurcations. The -plunger or thrust member 22a preferably extends through the Iopening 16X in orde-r that the walls of the opening may guide the plunger or thrust member and cause it to lmove Vin an endwise direction substantially axially `of the valve seat as it operates upwardly and downwardly.

l 'lVi-th these par-ts constructedl and arranged as just described, opera-tion of lthe levers 16a, 1S, away Vfrom `each other dueV to movement of the element 14; toward the left, will simultaneously cause the pivot 17 to move upwardly and the arm 18W to swing downwardly; due to this simultaneous operation, `the thrust member 22 will be actuated upwardly. When `the element 14 moves toward the right, due to rise in temperature of the medium in the tank 1, it permits the thrust member 22a andthe levers 21, 16a and 18 to swing downwardly, due to their weight, to nor-mal posit-ion. If the thrust member 22a were actuated in the 'man-` ner already described, 1t would engage the valve element 10 and lift it from its seat; and then permit thevalve element to seat itself asV the thrust member moves downwardly. But I prefer to int'erpose between the valve element 1() and the thrust member 22a a spring 23, whereby the pressure of the fuel acting on 4the valve element may be utilized to compress the spring 23 as the `thrust member moves Vupwardly so that the spring `may be compressed or placed under tension and caused to unseat the valve element 1v() with a Arelatively quick movement. The spring'23 is connected at its lower endto the thrust `member 22a so as to move ie spring 23 is preferably coiled and shaped to form a pocket for the valve elementv 10, its Vupper end being of a size to fit within the valve seat vand to engage the valve element -at` points substantially concentric to the axis of the valve seat.

The valve element 10 is held to its seat by vits weight and also by the pressure of the fuel flowing in the pipe 6. As the thrust member 22 mov-es` upwardly, it com.- presses the spring23 against the combined resistance of the weight of the valve ele- Vment and pressure of the fuel (see Fig. 8),

until the tens-ion of the spring overcomes such resistance, whereupon the spring 23 with a relatively quick action, will unseat the valve element and allow a full supply of fuel to pass the valve to the burner..

Thisoperation will insure proper and immediate ignition of the burner from its pilot and also prevent waste of fuel.

The spring 423 is preferably connected to the thrust member 22d in a detachable man ner. For thisV purpose, its upper end is formed with a screw threaded opening to receive a screw 22h. Thehead of the screw is provided with a collar 22C, which cooperates withV a washer 22d held on the upper end of thethrust member 22a by the head of the screw 22h, to detachably engage the end convolution of the spring 23 and thus secure it in position. rllhe head of the screw 22b may be provided with a slot to receive a toolwhereby it may be readily operated to clamp the spring 23 in position or release it. i

The abutment 20 is preferably adjustable to differentpositions `so that the temperature of the water in the tank 1 can be kept at any desired i temperature .within certain limits. In other words, by moving the inner .end of the abutment 2O toward or from the lever arm 18M, the latter may be caused to engage the abutment at any desired time in the forward movement of the levers 16, 18, and thus regulate the opening and closing 'of the valve V10QA "For this purpose the abut-y ment 20 preferably comprises a rod provided with screi'v-threads 2Oa which fit a screw# threaded opening 8d formed in the casing 8. The opening 8d is preferably formed in a thickened portion of the casing wall so that a long screw-threaded opening therethrough .may be provided to prevent the escape of was t,

To the other end of the rod 2O is fixed l a hand or pointerv20b, which is mov-able relative to a suitable scale or graduations on a plate 8e, whereby the temperature of the water can be intelligently controlled. The plate Seis preferably formed integrally with the casing 8. As it is desired to prevent molesting with the temperature control device 20, the pointer 20h, which may serve as the means for adjusting the abutment 20, is inclosed by a cover 24.' The cover 24 may ies llO

be held in place'by a plurality of screws 24u.

From the foregoing description itwill be seen that the levers 16a, 18, link 21 and lever 22 are so connected together for co-operation that `relatively slight movement of the thermostat element 14 will transmit relatively y long and quick movement to the thrust mem`- ber 22a, so that the valve 10 will be actuated tounseat and seat thevalve due to relatively minute changes in temperature of the medi-` um rin the tank 1. The leverage ratio in a system of levers embodying my invent-ion is so large that I am enabled to successively control the supply of a heating medium or the supplyof fuelto a burner` for heatinga room or rooms simply by supporting the thermostat elements therein.

`The levers 1Ga and 18 are so shaped that they and the lever 21, link 22 and .thrust member or plunger 22a can becorrelated for operation in a relatively small chamber; further, the construction of these levers is such that each pivot for and between them, as well as thelink 22 and thrust member 22a is supported in bearings at its opposite ends. To those skilled in the art to ywhich my invention relates many changes in construction and widely diiiering embodiments and application of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The descriptions and disclosures herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting. lil/That I claim is: i 1. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a casing having a valve opening through which fluid passes, and a valve .elementfforsaid valvev opening, of means for operating said valve element, said operatingimeans.comprising a plurality of connected multiplying levers, a thermostat element engaging one of lsaid levers and thrust means carried by another lever, said thrust means having a coiled spring extend-V ing in a direction axially of said valve opening and mounted to swing 'relativeto said last mentioned lever, whereby said spring remains in said axial position andmoves axially into engagement with and operates said valve element during swinging movenient of said lever. y

2. A mechanism as clainiedin claim 1 in which the valve element is guided vertically andV co-acts through its engagement with l said spring to maintain the latter in substaiitially axial alignment with said valve opening while being moved vertically to open and closev said valvek element. v

3. A mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which said thrust means comprises a stem pivoted at its lowerend to said lever andnormally disposed in axial alignment with lsaid valve opening, said spring extending beyond the :tree end of said stein, whereby it maintains a substantially vertical position axially of said valve opening while operating to open and close the latter.

Ll. The combination with a casing, having a valve opening through which fluid passes, and a valve for said valve opening, of means for operating said valve, said operating means including two members one operatively connected tothe other and each havingr operative connection with said casing,

.a lever carriedby one member, a link between the other member and lsaidy lever, ka thrust member arranged to be actuated by said lever to unseat said valve, and means for guiding said thrust member yin an endwise direction.

`5. A mechanism as claimed inclaim l in which said thrust means comprisea pivoted stein, said spring surrounding said stem and swingable therewith and extending beyondthe free end of said stem, whereby said stem and spring are free to maintain a substantially vertical position while being moved vertically by said connected levers.

6. The combination with a casing` having a valve opening through which vfluid passes, and a valve for said valve 0pening,.of means for operating said valve, said operating means including two members one` operatively connected to the other member and each having operative connectionrwith said casing, a lever carried by one member, .a link between the ,other member and said lever, and a tlirustmembery arranged to be actuated by said lever to-unseat said valve, one of said members beingf'formed with an opening through which saidthrust member extends, whereby it is guided in an endwise direction. Y Y 7. The combination with a casing, having a valve opening through which fluid passes and a valve for said valve opening, of means for operating said valve, said operating means including two members one carried bythe other member and each having opera- `tive connection-with said easing, the last mentioned member having air-,body portion formed with aii, openiii'g, a levericarried by `one member, a link.y between the other meniber and said lever, and a thrust member pivotally connected to vsaid lever and extending through the opening in one of said members and guided thereby andarranged to be actuated by said lever to unseat said valve.

8. The combination with a casing having a valve opening through which fluid passes and a valve ,for said valvel opening, ofnieans for v operating said valv-e, said operating means including two members one operatively connected to the othermember and each having operative connection with said casing, a lever cai'ried by: one member, a link between .the other member and said lever, and a tli'rustinember arranged'tobe actuated by said lever and pivoted thereto whereby itis free to'nioveinan endwise direction substantially axially of the valve seat,and a device .carried by said thrust -member and engaging said valve at points substantially concentric to the valve seat to yunseat it.

9; In mechanismof the class described,

vthe combination with `a`easing,having kan opening through whichfluid passesforining a valve seat, `and a valve for said( valve seat, of means :tor operatingvsaid valve, said operating means including two lmembers, one

operatively connected to they other' member and each having operativel connectionwith Vsaid casing,a lever carried by one member, .a link between the other member and said lever, and a thrust member pivotally connected ...at its lower end to said lever andarranged to be actuatedy by the latterin kan endwise direction substantially axially of thevalveseat, and a coiled spring carried by the upper portion of said thrust member and arranged to be compressed by the valve as the thrust member moves upwardly, whereby the valve is unseated relatively quickly after the spring tension overcomes the resistance maintaining the valve on its seat.

10. A mechanism as claimed in claim 9 in which the casing is provided with guides disposed concentrically tothe axis of the valve seat and extend parallel thereto.

11. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a valve mechanism having a valve seat and a guided valve ele-V ment arranged to engage and disengage therewith, a swingable lever, a thermostat element for swinging said lever, and thrust means mounted on said lever and actuated thereby, said thrust means having a spring arranged to engage with said valve element and be compressed thereby as it moves in a direction to unseat said element, said thrust means being pivoted to said lever whereby said spring is Jfree t0 move relative to said lever and accommodates itselil to the vvalve elementduring swinging movement of said lever. f

12. A mechanism as claimed in claim 11, in which the spring is detaehably supported on the thrust means. i

13. A mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper end of the spring is shaped to carry the valve element after the latter is unseated.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

` CARLM. Yonne. 

